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Site Admin Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 3258 Location: Pinecrest, FL	Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:09 pm    Post subject: Intel's Dual Core CPU to use TEC (Thermo Electric Cooling)   Intel claims their new Montecito (dual core) CPU will need a TEC to keep it cool in a server role. Pictures of the heatsink (with TEC attached) have been posted at The Inquirer. The Montecito is rumored to dissipate up to 200 watts under full load. To put this in perspective, a Pentium-4 3.06 ghz CPU dissipates around 80-100 watts, and an Athlon XP 3000 (Barton) uses around 75 watts. Thermo-Electric Cooling isn't anything new. TECs have been around in the overclocking community for some time. When a large current is passed through them, one side becomes extremely hot, and the other side, extremely cold. Using TECs on overclocked computers, home users can normally get their CPU to run in the negative digits (celcius). However, along with the heat produced by the CPU, you also need to dissipate the heat produced by the TEC. Normally TECs are cooled using a watercooling system, however in the Montecito case, by a very beastly looking heatsink.
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